|
CRISIS: Molokai Ranch closes its doors
By Kate Gardiner
4/2/2008 5:08:24 PM
4.3 percent of jobs lost in one day
Community experiences rapid-fire grief
By Kate Gardiner
The announcement of the April 5 closure of Molokai Ranch came as a surprise to some, and a grim reminder of the past to others. Within hours of the announcement, every politician in the state had responded to the crisis.
Governor Linda Lingle compared the job loss, estimated at 120 people, to the loss of 23,000 jobs on Oahu in a single day.
State Sen. Kalani English said that the "people who call Molokai home will find a way to deal with these issues
Molokai residents have for years sought to address difficult questions about the lifestyle and the unique culture of their island."
And address their lifestyle they did. Molokai residents spent the week speaking out about their land, their jobs, their economy and the future of the island.
Shock, denial
The immediate effects of the Ranch's closure were obvious: 113 people will permanently lose their jobs at the Ranch after assets are "mothballed." More than 60,000 acres of the island will be closed to the public, and the tiny, Ranch-owned town of Maunaloa will almost lose everything from its gas station to the island's only movie theater. One of the island's two golf courses, Kaluakoi, will also shut down. The theater will close tomorrow, April 3, with a community potluck in Maunaloa. The Molokai Ranch gift shop will also close.
The rest of the Ranch's operations will phase out April 5, and shrinking teams of employees will shut down the rest of the facility over the course of two months. All cattle and livestock operations owned by the Ranch will cease and the organization will pay only a skeleton crew to keep the buildings maintained and the vegetation at the golf course alive.
Paniolo Jimmy Duvauchelle said that he anticipates being able to lease the land he has been using for the Cowboy Connection and livestock, perhaps even buying the Ranch herd. Whether or not rodeos will continue at the Ranch's Maunaloa arena, for example, is unclear, as is the status of the riding at the Kaunakakai Arena, another Ranch property. If both arenas are shut down, the only facility on the Molokai rodeo circuit will be at Kapualei Ranch, east end.
The status of the rest of the various leases and holdings owned and agreed upon by the Ranch around Molokai are also murky, including the management of the Molokai Irrigation System and Well 17 (see story A1). Ranch Chief Executive Officer Peter Nicholas answered all media queries with "No comment," as did general manager for community relations, John Sabas.
By Thursday, the reality of the Ranch's decision set in. At employee meetings held in the theater, state government and company management discussed the employees' future. A task force from the governor's office and the department of Labor and Industrial Relations, (lead in part, by former Molokai Enterprise Committee executive officer and current interim executive director of the Office of Planning, Abbey Seth Mayer) told Ranch employees about unemployment benefits, state workforce development plans and other state-funded assistance.
A representative of the union that represents all Molokai Ranch workers said that his organization received no advanced warning that the Ranch would close. Union business agent Abel Kahoohanohano assured a small group of employees gathered outside the meeting that the results of effects bargaining, including the distribution of the few remaining jobs and any other opportunities available to employees.
The union has an emergency fund that will be cashed out and returned. The union had a meeting in Maunaloa April 1, evaluating the situation. Kahoohanohano said, "We wanted to be in the meeting [Thursday]. We were not able to participate."
Deputy director of the Department of Human Services Henry Oliva said that he was on Molokai to assist the island's "at-risk population."
Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Darwin Ching said he was in Maunaloa to provide "general, and special assistance ... and determine what opportunities have to be developed and who has what skills, as well as job training and relocation, and possibly a special rate for the ferry to Maui between $7-10 each way."
A state representative from the task force said that there were about 12 state jobs available on Molokai, and many more off-island.
A recruiter for the state of Hawaii, Jim Dote, said, "You never know what qualifications people have
they go to a resort to work for something different." He also said that those willing to relocate would have many opportunities off-island in Maui or on Oahu.
Blue Bulfer, 20, who worked part-time for the movie theater, said he will be living in a ghost town. "There will be bored kids doing any kine stuff [in Maunaloa]. [You can apply] at the store, at the kite shop, [or ask for work at] the rich people houses."
Teri Waros, former general manager of the Lodge, said that the key is to, "Keep people here working, no matter what. There are people who appreciate Molokai, and our roots are
in that aloha."
State Rep. for Molokai, Mele Carroll, said, "Where there is tragedy, there is always opportunity, and I look forward to working with the people of Molokai to unite and discuss the island's future."
Aunty Vanda Hanakahi said, "The community is coming back together, better than before. I feel strongly about that
It's not like we've never encountered hard times. We have. And the community as a whole will not just shut down or turn their backs to those who are adversely affected. The community will pull together."
Anger and blame
By Tuesday evening, the blame for the loss of the Ranch jobs was planted on the shoulders of Walter Ritte and the activist group 'A'ole La'au by many members of the community.
In MPL's only press release last week, announcing the closure, Nicholas said, "MPL has been working with Molokai community leaders on developing and implementing a Master Plan for the future of Molokai. Unacceptable delays caused by continued opposition to every aspect of the Master Plan means we are unable to fund continued normal company operations."
Ritte came to the County of Maui Budget and Finance Committee Tuesday night, asking members of 'A'ole La'au to attend. Ritte was short and to the point. "Thanks to everyone
for La'au Point," he said. "It 's a shame we had to follow the negative ... all the way back to Asia
" He claimed the Ranch closure as an opportunity. "We need to move," urged Ritte. Elsewhere he said, "That's why we're in the position we are today. Molokai Ranch could not get the support of this community."
Outside, discontent was growing. Those who lost their jobs or disagreed with the message 'A'ole La'au has been putting out for the past two years grumbled to the media. Ranch employee Linda Demello told KHON channel 2 she "hope[s the activists] feel something for the rest of the people on the island, especially for us."
Ranch employees banded together, and by Friday night, discontent with the situation led to a rally/protest outside of Kulana 'Oiwi. Standing in the same place that anti-La'au protestors occupied in the past, Ranch employees parked their trucks along the side of the road and shouted at people driving.
Employees painted white words on plywood in the back of a truck or brought signs from home. "Thank you 4 all your support
Now I'm out of a Job! You Dumb Asses" said a huge poster board held by Loke Kamakana, the back of which was a blown-up map of the La'au Point subdivision. Another sign read, "Thank you, Walter Ritte, for taking my job and medical away from me and my family."
Whether or not Ranch employees were fired because of the failures of the La'au Point project and the long-standing debate about the proposed Master Plan for Molokai Ranch is still unclear. Politicians throughout the state doubted the sincerity of the Ranch's story.
Former chairman of the Molokai Planning Commission, DeGray Vanderbilt, took the opportunity to chide Nicholas. "I feel this is just another irresponsible tactic on the part of Peter Nicholas," Vanderbilt espoused. "He's used the Ranch employees by really not ever letting them know the full story
of how he was trying to manipulate the process behind the scenes, and like so many foreigners, he took advantage of the aloha offered by his employees and members of the community."
Various community leaders said privately that they doubted the sincerity of Friday's protests. Many seemed to believe Ranch employees were goaded into the protest and are being urged to break with the community.
Ranch employees at the protest, however, wondered about their future and expressed legitimate concerns. "What am I going to do now?" asked one of the employees. Another simply bent to the task of painting another sign, "Activists, happy now?"
Whatever the context, businesspeople all over the island suggested that finances were a valid basis for the Ranch's closure. Shrimp farmer and Molokai Planning Commissioner Steve Chaikin said, "The Ranch's decision should not come as such a big surprise considering they have been losing millions of dollars each year and with the bleak economic forecast and lack of community support, their challenges going forward are more than most any company would endure."
In conversation island-wide, there is no doubt that the loss of economic opportunity provided by the Ranch will affect the island. Several hundred people depended on the income from resort-type industry, including some families with more than six children.
As Molokai has no other resorts and only one hotel, those displaced parents may have to look off-island for income, only returning to Molokai on weekends, or moving off-island permanently.
According to state estimates, the Molokai civilian labor force was 2,500 in 2007 and the unemployment rate was 150 people, or 6.2 percent, in 2007. If that number still holds this year, the number of unemployed people is now 263, or 10.5 percent; 4.3 percent of Molokai's job force was terminated in a single day. Indirect job loss could total many more positions, especially as tourist-dependent businesses scale back operations.
Darrell Obrato, 23, has lived on Molokai for 13 years. He says he understands both sides of the situation. "It's a positive and negative thing in a sense, positive in that we get to keep our natural resources, and keep the things we've been fighting for, keeping the development low. But to a certain extent, how can you be happy where you hear so much local people in one small community ... When you get this much families affected by some kind of decision like how you can be happy about it
Obrato continued, "If
you no more business, you guys losing money every year, no matter how much you love your employees
how can you keep a business open with no money? Fish and Dive
we like one family, and so it'd be hard if Tim couldn't make the money and he had to let us off
It's his business and if you're not making money, you're not making money."
Hanakahi says that though unemployment will not be comparable to when the plantations shut down, "I know there will be a financial struggle, but they won't be without any financial means ... Back then, you had families that were very large
there were avenues that opened up, that the families could continue to stay on Molokai
"
Kanani Adolpho, 31, has been on the island since she was 2. "I'm sorry
people lost their jobs," said Adolpho. "Especially since they turned their back on their values so that they could pursue someone else's financial accomplishments ... It's sad for the workers who put their all into supporting the Ranch
I think Molokai get one chance to step up and reclaim a lot they claim they lost because of Molokai Ranch."
Acceptance and looking forward
Those same activists gathered to talk story Saturday and figure out just how to reclaim what they lost. Members of the newly defunct 'A'ole La'au group gathered for an emergency meeting at the Molokai Community Service Council to determine just what they want for the island. The most obvious question was whether or not the Ranch was for sale, and if so, what could be done with it. Jammed into what Ritte called the War Room, people gathered energy and ideas together for a cohesive look at the future of the island, and what they think should happen.
Among ideas put forward was purchasing the Ranch, and the aging Kaluakoi Resort and turning it in to a wellness and education center. The idea of Molokai as a healing place reverberated throughout the shared mana'o. Kathryn Mahealani Davis said, Molokai carries with it a "profound sense of something
[just like] the middle of no where." Ritte picked up plan after plan for the Ranch property, for the island as a whole, for proposed development, for the countywide plan and for subsistence management. Karen Holt, director of the MCSC, hefted a volume of the four-binder plan she sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Everyone remembered plans written over the course of the past 30 years while a table in the corner groaned with the weight of so much mana'o.
Davis asked, "Help us do this, so we can help the rest of the world. What does our vision mean?"
Timmy Leong, said he "can't help but look backwards and forward at the same time. Looking at the 1970s, it was easy to romanticize the old days and ways, but the kupuna alive then said, 'you can have the old days, but the old days was hard'... the future seems rocky. We should be looking at how we can sustain ourselves [in the medium-term]," he concluded.
Holt once again brought up history. "[Molokai] had a production-based economy that was the essence of Molokai's appeal
we should return to that, the fishponds
[even as the rest of the world] shifts to a service-based economy."
Shifting back to the Ranch, Holt said that she is putting out feelers for additional funding for her UPC Wind idea. That proposal has a $50 million pledge behind it from the UPC Wind company, which would like MCSC, or any entity, to purchase the land and lease back necessary lands for a wind farm to sell electricity to Oahu. As the most concrete plan, and the only one with money behind it, the UPC offer is the best one available to residents.
Asked about the ideas, kupuna Vanda Hanakahi said that the UPC Wind plan would be beneficial for Molokai. She said, "I would like to see the people get direct energy from UPC, but I know that wouldn't be possible immediately
the only thing is that it doesn't provide many jobs for Molokai. The benefits over time, however
are [worth it.]"
Hanakahi is also strongly in favor of Molokai as a center of wellness of healing, and education. "Molokai is going to look very hard at acquiring Kaluakoi. I believe Molokai can be a very good place to have something like that."
Vinnie Dudoit and Marketa Stastna contributed reporting for this article.
|
|
Well said! I agree, its time for change in Molokai. Do not let the activists take you down the wrong path, the future of Molokai and your children are counting on you.
5/1/2008, 8:03:36 PM |
How sad... activists cry to preserve the island and culture. But at what costs? To see their brothers and sisters loose their jobs? I sit and work next to a Molokai native. We discuss this whole scenario frequently. His family has left the island to pursue a better life, has he sold out to progress? Or has he done what is best for his family? Do the activists really represent Molokai? or their own gaols and ideas? Yes Im an outsider, a visitor, but I respect the ways and traditions of your culture. But now instead of working together and finding a compromise, to find a balance, the activists have shut the doors on everything. Shame on Walter...its all good when it doesnt effect him. My co-worker and I remind you a former brother of yours...thinks that the minority has been speaking at the MPC meetings....not the majority of Molokai.
So now your brothers and sisters will be either be unemployed or forced to work off island. Is that really what Molokai wants? or what a minority of activists want? Wind farms? From what I see they offer nothing to Molokai or its traditions. Who benefits the most? Oahu and its people thats who....not Molokai. The real people of Molokai need to step up and have their say. And Walter should look up the definition of compromise. I live in a state that values its lands, beaches and forests, we found a compromise and it works. Plenty of beach to roam and walk, forests to hike and camp in....yet development for "locals" to work and provide for our families. Molokai take a look at Oregon....you can find balance. You can use your natural resources to benefit your families and maintain your culture. Will the real Molokai voice stand up? or allow a few activists to impose their views....while claiming to represent all Molokai. My co-worker just shakes his head at the way this has all transpired. It certainly hasnt been the Hawaiian way! Set aside areas for nature, for culture, and yes for business and properity. Use your resources to your advantage....not shut them off. How dissapointing to see your beautiful island become a wasteland...filled with "green" windpower that only benefits another island. As long as the wind towers arent in your backyard you are OK. Are Walter and his group going to have the wind towers next to them?...WILL the REAL MOLOKAI speakup?....or see your unemployement rise? to become the slums of the Hawaiin Islands with drugs and crime....IT will come...it happens everywhere that there is no work. Search the world and you will see....no work leads to crime and no hope. Take the investors money! use it for your families and your future. But at the same time control what happens moderation is the answer....not shut it out. I used to look forward to my visits to your island I even took the stares form some of you as an haole, a mainlander...now Im not sure I will return. Why come? to see the beauty of your isalnd shut down and not maintained?...I think the real Molokai will step up and support their unemployed brothers and sisters. But will the activists help? What a shame...let the real people speak and vote on this...committee's where board members dont attend will never represent the true people of Molokai!
BE smart Molokai...declare your beach a state route or county route...we did in Oregon. We have our developments yes, but we also have hundreds of miles of beaches ...open to all. We have our forests that yes we log them, but we also cherish and preserve them.....there is a balance. FIND your hearts MOLOKAI and find the balance!
Just a guy from Oregon
5/1/2008, 10:51:42 AM |
|
. |
|
 |
|
